General Motors Senior Vice President Product Development Mary Barra introduces the 2014 Corvette Stingray

At GM, everything begins and ends with great products, and that was certainly the case for us at the 2013 North American International Auto Show here in Detroit. Now that the show’s public days have just concluded, I’d like to offer a quick look at how we did and where we’re going from here.

2014 GMC Sierra

We primed the pump for this year’s show by introducing our 2014 full-size pickups in December. From hood to hitch, the all-new Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra 1500 pickups will be the most-refined, best-engineered pickups in the market. Among the many new features designed to surprise and delight are a trio of powerful, efficient EcoTec3 engines; a stronger, quieter, more comfortable cab; improved steering, suspension and brakes; and of course, the towing and hauling capability you’d expect from Chevrolet and GMC.

The terrific buzz generated by our pickups gave us great momentum heading into the New Year and helped fuel a number of big wins for us at the Detroit show:

• The new Cadillac ATS compact luxury sports sedan was voted North American Car of the Year;
• The Cadillac ELR coupe, featuring the first luxury application of our Extended Range Electric Vehicle technology, won the “Eyes on Design” award for best production vehicle;
• And the all-new Chevrolet Corvette Stingray was named “Best in Show” by AutoWeek magazine and readers of The Detroit News.

2014 Cadillac ELR

2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray

These three awards left no doubt that GM can design, build and sell the world’s best vehicles – and yet they represent just a sample of the many great cars, trucks and crossovers we’ll introduce around the world in 2013.

Chevrolet, for example, will launch more than 20 new products globally this year, including 13 in the U.S. alone. A few highlights:

• Chevrolet’s first pure electric car, the Spark EV, which will hit U.S. showrooms this summer;
• The new 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel, featuring tried-and-true clean turbo diesel technology;
• The all-new 2014 Impala, which will give Chevrolet an entry in all five passenger car segments – from mini to full-size – for the first time ever.

2014 Chevrolet Impala

Also in the U.S.:

• The all-new Buick Encore, the industry’s first luxury small crossover, is arriving in dealerships now;
• And the 2014 Cadillac CTS, the car that launched Cadillac’s design renaissance, will bow in the second half of the year.

2013 Buick Encore

Meanwhile, in Europe this year, the Opel ADAM subcompact city car, Opel Cascada cabrio and Chevrolet Trax small SUV will be among 23 new vehicles we’ll introduce over the next four years.

And in China, we’ll introduce the new Buick LaCrosse sedan and SGM Sail SPRINGO EV this year – just two of the 60 new models or major upgrades we’re introducing in China over five years.

Sail SPRINGO EV

In a fast-changing, consumer-driven business like ours, you win by bringing a steady stream of world-class products and technologies to market. At GM, we’ve never been in a better position to do just that.

At the end of the day, everything begins and ends with great products. That was our story at this year’s North American International Auto Show, and that’s our unwavering focus going forward for our customers around the world.

Mary Barra was named Senior Vice President, Global Product Development effective February 1, 2011, responsible for the design, engineering, program management and quality for General Motors’ vehicles around the world. She is a member of the Executive Operations Committee and serves on the Adam Opel AG Supervisory Board.